Mosul: One year on

A mother and her daughter walk home in west Mosul. Destruction here is everywhere, with rubble from explosions littering the streets overlooked by crumbling houses. [Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC]

More than 380,000 people are still displaced in and around Mosul as the city lies in ruins, one year after it was retaken from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group.

What was hailed by the Iraqi authorities and the international community as a victory has not translated to relief from misery for many Iraqis in the city.

The level of destruction in Mosul is considered the worst in Iraq, with a staggering eight million tonnes of debris.

On the western side of town, few buildings emerged unscathed. Around 90 percent of western Mosul is still devastated, with 62 schools destroyed and 207 damaged.

Some 54,000 houses in Mosul and the surrounding areas have been destroyed, displacing the families who lived there.

Not all families were able to find shelter in camps, and one-third of those living outside of camps may face eviction because they cannot afford the rent.

There has been minimal international support for the displaced people of Iraq over the past year.

An estimated $874m is needed to restore basic infrastructure in Mosul.

A child leans against the bullet-riddled wall of his house. Three years ago, ISIL took control of the neighbourhood and Kaiwan suffered burns to his left arm while fleeing with his family. The scars of conflict are still fresh on the child's body and the city's walls. [Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC]

Akram stands next to his car that was damaged by shrapnel. A shell hit Akram’s house during the retaking of Mosul a year ago. His car is miraculously still rolling but his house has been destroyed. [Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC]

Mosul's old city is a pile of rubble, the core still laced with debris and metal one year after the fighting ended. About 90 percent of this area is destroyed and it will take at least 10 years to rebuild. [Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC]

Children walk by the remains of the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, Iraq. Built in 1172–1173, the mosque was destroyed by ISIL on June 21, 2017. This historical mosque was famous for its leaning minaret, known as al-Hadba, which was also destroyed. [Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC]

A resident of Mosul shows an old picture of the minaret of al-Nuri mosque. [Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC]

The remains of a truck sit in front of the remains of the Great Mosque of al-Nuri. The misshapen truck and the bullet holes that riddle it illustrate the intensity of the fighting that took place one year ago. [Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC]

The neighbourhood of the Great Mosque of al-Nuri is totally flattened. One year on, residents of the area can’t return home as there is nothing waiting for them but debris. [Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC]

Firas stands in front of what is left of his car. He owns a bakery in west Mosul. He came back to his neighbourhood one year ago, after the military operations ended. "Until now, nothing has changed in the area. Less than a quarter of the people are back, the rest cannot return because they lack basic services such as water and electricity. Most of the support comes from the people from the neighbourhood" Firas says. "The city is still a pile of rubble. Most of the people in the city live in damaged houses, sometimes crammed in one room." [Helen Baker/ NRC]

Vehicles navigate a street in Mosul’s old city. Cars and inhabitants circulate with difficulty in this apocalyptic scene, as small adjacent streets are not safe yet. [Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC]

The remains of Mosul’s main hospital. One year on, most of the essential public infrastructure in the city is still in ruins. [Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC]

A man speaks in front of what is left of his shop. Taha was the owner of a sound recording studio but is currently jobless in west Mosul. "ISIL confiscated the recording devices from my studio so I made it a falafel shop, but since the retaking of Mosul I am jobless and I have a family to feed. There are no jobs, the streets are still laced with rubble, and nobody cares about us," Taha says. [Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC]

A bulldozer demolishes the remains of a building in west Mosul. Clearing operations have started recently but the scale of the work that needs to be done is immense and Iraqi authorities are cruelly lacking in resources. [Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC]

This heavily damaged building is sadly notorious for having been the scene of numerous executions perpetrated by ISIL. [Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC]]

A man stands in front of his house. Alaa, a father of three, lives in a rented house in Mosul with two other families. Twelve people live crammed in one home. "Most people cannot return because they lost their homes and cannot afford to rebuild. They also lack services like water, electricity, job opportunities, schools, and medical care," Alaa says. His own house was damaged in May 2017 during operations to retake the city from ISIL. A third of displaced families living outside camps face eviction because they can’t afford to pay the rent. [Karl Schembri/NRC]

Most of the bridges linking the eastern and western parts of the city were destroyed. Only a few have been partially rebuilt with often only one lane, making traffic in the city difficult. [Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC]